Dan's Papers Cover Artist Sandra Bloodworth Paints 'Christmas Fondue'
“I strive to find that moment where the subject might just come down off the wall and engage you in conversation,” says our November 29, 2019 Dan’s Papers cover artist, Sandra Bloodworth. Her cover painting, “Christmas Fondue,” an oil-on-linen, comes from a lovely personal experience Bloodworth had over the holidays. The artist often draws from her memories and life in her work.
What was the inspiration for this piece?
A few years ago on Christmas Eve, we were thinking of having fondue, the perfect winter meal. So after attending the carol service at St. Thomas’s on Fifth Avenue and seeing the Rockefeller Christmas tree, we came home for a fondue dinner. In my practice I strive to capture the lushness of the time in the portrait of the meal.
This cover features a lot of deep red. What is it about the color that evokes the holidays?
Red, one of the traditional colors of Christmas, is traced back to the days of paganism and early Christianity. It certainly remains the dominant color of the Christmas holidays.
What do the holidays mean to you? How do you like spending the holidays?
While I respect all faiths, we are Christian and it is a special time of year for my husband, Fred May, and me. We are particularly excited, as our children will be joining us in New York this year. In addition to cooking and participating in all of our Christmas traditions, we will add a new one that includes Broadway and seeing To Kill a Mockingbird and having a special meal, most likely at Aureole, across from the Bryant Park Winter Village.
Much of your work has been portraiture and still life. Why are you drawn to this type of art?
The paintings are about bounty and the desire for love and good times and abundance. The documentation of these moments is the acknowledgement and thankfulness for this gift of friends, family and love. They are also a response to the chaos of life, those things that are beyond our control. Within the two-foot square is the opportunity to celebrate that which is good and at peace—a small piece of the world that is in harmony.
Where else can people see your work?
I am represented by Mary Cantone of William Ris Gallery in Jamesport on the North Fork. Mary currently is exhibiting several of my still life paintings and also represents my portrait work. It is delightful to visit her gallery, particularly if you have time to stop in the nearby vineyard’s tasting room next door.
For more on Sandra Bloodworth and her art, visit sandrabloodworth.com.